New Delhi: For decades, Bollywood has been synonymous with the Films released in Hindi Languages. The heart of the industry lies in the city of dreams i.e. ‘Mumbai’. But the destructive COVID 19 virus had a huge impact on the industry. The lockdowns and shutting down of movie threatres led to an altogether shift in the behaviour of movie loving audience, wherein they sifted to niche platforms to consume content. This led to the rise of OTT as on of the high growth mediums for mass movie releases and content consumption.
OTT not only allowed user to consume content at ease but also led to a subtle shift towards a new trend of consuming varied content that expanded not only across cast but also across languages. This subtle shift was mainly driven by the high quality content produced across the pan india box office and small town production houses. The young generation had never had the power to choose at suca an eas, what to watch and when to watch. This trend was altogether different from what was experienced before in Bollywood wherein the movie theaters were ruled by the star power and selected production houses.
The Rise
But 2022 has been an altogether different year for India Cinema. The sudden rise in block buster performances of ‘pan india’ movies across the box office has been a pleasant breeze for audiences from all across India. The real question is what is COVID 19 or was the seed already planted for the rise of ‘pan-India’ films at the box office?
Such a mass response for regional movies had been unheard of until the release of Bahubali - The Beginning, directed by SS Rajamouli. The full potential of the so called ‘regional’ movie market was exposed and may be, led to a wave that we are experiencing today.
Back-to-back release and massive success of three regional movies this year; Pushpa- The Rise, RRR and KGF Chapter 2. Just looking by the Box Office Collection numbers, we can relate that the ‘subtle change’ is now threatening the star power that Bollywood once carried. Ms Chopra, a film critic says,
I think Hindi cinema got lazy in its rendition of the big, commercial film. They became too reliant on the stars. But the manna from heaven arrives only when you put a great star with a great script.
What Next?
The question to ponder upon once you decide to go for the next big screen movie is - Is the Bollywood monopoly over? And is there a new change that can take the big screen industry by storm? In any case, the cherry on the cake resides with the audience as they win anyways, taking away mind-blogging cinematic experiences showcased by the amazing talent of Indian cinema industry.
Disclaimer: The Box Office Data is captured till 28th April, 2022 and is compiled from various box office sources and by ABP research team. The data can be assumed approximate.